Harold Marzak
A leading figure in the field of Radiotherapy before the war, he is likely the leading man after it. After spending thr better part of two centuries trying to recreate his equipment, he would meet John Hoolihan and began to work with him ensuring the health of the Badlands Territory. Biography Pre-War Harold was born in Matewan to Polish immigrants in 2037, living in two-room shack with his parents and siblings. He would excel in school, earning a full-ride to West Virginia State when he was Seventeen, where he majored in Physics and minored in Pred-med. He would be accepted in Oxford's College of Medicine and graduate five years later near the top of his class. He would return to the States for his residency, but would go to Oklahoma instead of West Virginia, seeking better pay and clients who didn't share pairs of cousins. He would work at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City for the next four years, before transferring to a small county clinic in the state's panhandle. It was here that he would spend the next seventeen years, treating the rural patients that were often marginalized by private insurance. The War On the morning of October 23rd 2077, Harold had just finished a graveyard shift in the clinic and returned to his house that he rented in the countryside. At least a hundred miles from any moderately-large population centers, Harold would be unaware anything was wrong until he went back to the clinic for his shift that night. He found that the lights were off, despite it being open twenty-four hours. As he walked closer, he noticed that the door was broken in, and there were pill bottles and other supplies scattered on the floor. As he stepped inside to investigate further, he was struck on the back of the head and knocked unconcious. He woke up with the sunrise and an ache throughout his body. Realizing that no one came throughout the night, he returned home, his car stripped of it's hub-caps and radio. Post-War Despite staying up all day trying to get a radio signal and waiting for his television's test pattern to clear, Harold woke up the next day feeling terrible. He noticed more hair than usual falling out when he combed his hair, bit attributed to stress. He would go to his neighbor Earl's house to see if he had heard anything, but couldn't find any trace of him or his family. Deciding to go through their kitchen, he was startled to hear someones voice, realizing it was the local radio anchor, and heard him explain the nuclear holocaust had happened, before he shot himself in the head. Deeply shocked and in disbelieve, he would linger in the kitchen for sometime before returning to his own home. He would continue to feel ill over the next few days, but didn't think anything was wrong until his skin began to flake off. Realizing it was radiation poisoning he was initially despondent before realizing he had some medicine in the clinic. He again trekked to the country clinic, taking a roll of quarters in a sock this time as protection, and made sure to arrive well before nighttime. He would find the medicine and administered it at home, but it would leave him very weak for the next few days. When he could finally get out of bed, he went to his bathroom mirror only to see that the treatment hadn't worked, and his face was missing more patches of skin. He resigned himself to a slow death and considered suicide, eyeing the pistol that his father had given him, but decided to try and help while he could. To this end he decided to continue with his Radiology, and went to gather the needed machines. He found the ones in the clinic either stolen or smashed by looters, and with the nearest hospital two hours away, he had to build them. Knowing little about the actual construction of the machines, he at least knew he would need radioactive material. To that end he traveled to the Silkwood Nuclear Power plant outside of his small town, finding it as abandoned as every other business. Walking through the facility he found that the housing for reactor number 2 was cracked, leaking (what the sensors claimed to be) a dangerous amount of radiation. Knowing he was doomed anyway, he began to wander the facility looking for a pair of tongs and a lead-lined box to put the plutonium core into. Not finding one, he began to gather sensors, monitors and wiring in one of the break rooms, deciding to make another trip. He would lose more flesh before he came back however, forcing him to wear a trench coat to cover himself. Unfortunately for him, his choice of wardrobe caused him to look suspicious to passing looters, traveling the countryside. They would start to chase him, mistaking him for some pedophile, forcing him to hide in the power plant, the radiation clicking off one woman's gieger counter. Hiding near the reactor, Harold waited two days before checking the outside, finding it deserted. He also found the mirror in the men's room, and saw even more of his skin missing, with one cheek now totally gone. Finding himself disfigured, he decided to stay in the Power plant for a little longer, and create a makeshift box for the plutonium. This would be accomplished with aluminum foil, cardboard, hard plastic and some tape. While this was able to hold the rods, the resulting radiation poured through, and he also badly burned his hands picking up the fuel rods. He would wrap the burns in ointment and gauze, then proceed to try and assemble the radiology machines. This would take longer than he thought, with a weeks worth of work yielding little. He managed to connect the monitors to a bundle of wires, but couldn't figure out the power flow. He would try to find some more parts in town, but instead ran across a few of his neighbors, apparently done hiding. They were initially horrified upon seeing him, but their disgust turned to pity as he explained his "radiation poisoning" and what he was trying to do. They assisted him as they could, there being little left in the town. With these supplies he would thank them and tell them to come by the plant if they needed treatment. Appearance Harold is a ghoul of average height and weight, his only notable physical features being his sunken eyes, and the orange tint to his skin. He usually wears a labcoat with casual clothes underneath, and a wide-brimmed hat, both to keep the sun out of his eyes and to hide his baldness. Category:Characters Category:Ghouls Category:Badlands